Allahabad High Court to hear plea in Taj corridor case

Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court is set to hear a petition challenging erstwhile Uttar Pradesh Governor TV Rajeswar's refusal to grant sanction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute former-UP chief minister Mayawati and her cabinet colleague Naseemuddin Siddiqui in the alleged Taj corridor scandal.

It was after refusal from Rajeswar that the special CBI court dropped the proceedings of the case against Mayawati and Siddiqui. Earlier in November 2012, in a major relief for the Bahujan Samaj Party chief, the high court had also dismissed all the Public Interest Litigations (PIL) against her and Siddiqui in the case. Several PILs had been filed challenging the Special CBI court order that dropped the proceedings against her.

The then governor Rajeswar had rejected CBI's demand to prosecute claiming lack of evidence against Mayawati.

On June 5 2007, the CBI court had dropped all proceedings against Mayawati and Siddiqui in the absence of prosecution sanction. The then governor Rajeshwar had to examine evidence which could have established whether a prima facie case was not made against the accused. He had rejected CBI's demand claiming lack of evidence against Mayawati.

The Uttar Pradesh government, under the leadership of Mayawati, had allegedly violated rules by giving a green signal to construct a shopping mall and some other centres in the Taj corridor at a big public cost.